Thomas E. Rettig

Thomas E. Rettig lived life with passionate enthusiasm and loved nothing more than sharing his stories and knowledge with others. Born in Findlay, Ohio on August 18th, 1944, to Willard and Betty (Schlack) Rettig, he graduated from Carey High School in 1962. Tom was a proud US Navy Veteran and loved talking about his time serving his country on the U.S.S. Forrestal from 1962-1965.

Not long after returning from service, he married the love of his life, Mary (Weaver) at Salem St. Joseph Catholic Church on May 10, 1969. They had two children Anne Reese (John), and Ryan whom Tom cherished beyond words.

Over the years Tom held various careers. Most recently he had retired from Toft Dairy after 25 years as regional sales rep where locally he became known to many simply as “Tommy Toft”. Tom was a licensed land surveyor and also worked as tile sales reps for Haviland Drainage and ADS for over 30 years combined. He earned a “2 Million Dollar Sales” award in 1987 at ADS, the only one to accomplish this at that time.  In his early days some of his most memorable jobs were delivering milk bottles for Sani-Pure Dairy, working on the Thomas Family Dairy Farm outside of Carey, and announcing sports & news on the local radio at WYNT. He enjoyed playing music and was a self-taught drummer for the band Nightlife in the early 80s. Even in his final days he would find something to drum tap on.

Tom was always outdoors. He enjoyed mushroom and arrowhead hunting, meticulously mowing his yard, gardening, fishing, and planting trees. Tom has planted over 500 trees in his lifetime. He also had a true passion for sports and could remarkably recall statistics for any sport in conversation. He was a youth baseball coach for many years. Tom loved golfing with his family and friends at any chance given. On August 27th, 2021, Tom had his first hole in one on hole #2 at Lincoln Hills Golf Course. Throughout his life he was a member of the Salem St. Joseph Catholic Church, Elks Lodge, American Legion, VFW, AMVETS, and Carey Conservation Club.

Tom joined his son Ryan in heaven on August 5th, at 9:59pm after complications from a heart attack. He is survived by his wife Mary with 53 years of marriage, daughter Anne and son-in-law John Reese of Columbus. He is also survived by many brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews to which he dearly loved. Entirely including the Thomas Family, Rettig Family, Schlack Family, and Weaver Family.

Services for Thomas Rettig will be held Saturday, August 13th at Lucas-Batton Funeral Home in Upper Sandusky at 2pm and will be officiated by Father Conrad Sutter OFM Conv. Wyandot County Color Guard will be conducting Military Honors. A celebration of life gather will immediately follow at the Elks Lodge #83. Burial service will be held on a later date at Oak Hill Cemetery in Upper Sandusky.

In lieu of flowers, the family will be purchasing trees in Tom’s memory to continue his love for planting trees and nature. Each tree will be tracked and noted for memorial. Donations may be made to the family or sent to Lucas Batton Funeral Home at 476 S. Sandusky Ave. Upper Sandusky, OH 43351.

To send flowers to the family, please visit our floral store.